Appalachia
Rising is a movement led by the people of the Southern Appalachian
Mountains. People from all over America will come together on
September 27th 2010
to demand the abolition of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal extraction in
Appalachia. We are not visiting DC to attack coal as its supporters
would have you believe. We are a non-violent movement; I don't see any
of us attacking anything or anyone. Coal speaks its own truth and I
believe that truth is spoken in catastrophes such as the April 5th mine
disaster at Upper Big Branch Mine and the truth that every day
Appalachian mountains are leveled and their valleys are filled by
waste. Our communities are flooded and our water is poisoned just to
"keep on the lights" in 25 countries.
Coal
speaks its truths in what it leaves behind for the people that
sacrifice so much for the coal companies' bottom line. The people get
nothing in return but destroyed ancestral, historic lands and
communities such as Blair, the battleground for today's United Mine
Workers Association. "We the people" get the poisoned water, the
polluted land, the silica-laden air, the bad health, and the diminished
hope of ever having a future. This is what we have to show for 200
years of mining coal. Where is the preached prosperity? We have no
desire to bash coal. Coal speaks for itself.
There
are nearly 3.5 million pounds of explosives used EACH DAY in West
Virginia alone. People throughout Appalachia couldn't find the political
support to stop the attack on our homeland and we began to
organize. While our county, state and federal leaders turned a blind
eye and deaf ear to us...We formed a movement. Appalachians have
depended on our democracy (the American people) to help defend us as our
politicians and regulatory agencies have not.
The
previous administration's Environmental Protection Agency
rubber-stamped MTR mining permits in the name of "homeland
security". Currently there have been new guidelines set within the EPA
to seriously curtail MTR. As Appalachians and Americans we say this is
not enough. We work daily to ABOLISH mountaintop removal. We're not
after another piece of legislation to justify or excuse it. The
practice of blowing up mountains to supply electricity MUST stop. Our
very lives depend on it.
These
mountains are the lifeblood of our existence. Our ancestors are
veterans of ALL world wars. This is the part of our country that they
fought to defend beginning over 200 years ago. Our soldier's resting
places are often at the peaks of these mountains. Their cemeteries are
now surrounded by miles of nothing but rubble and are left inaccessible
to families. Where majestic, breath taking views use to overlook the
nearby valley towns, it is now devastation as far as the eye can
see. One thing to think about is the fact that mountaintop removal and
communities CANNOT co-exist. This type of mining will never benefit
communities nearby. The areas that Katrina hit are rebuilding. There
is NO rebuilding after MTR. The towns are simply erased.